96 – Anti-Muslim violence in times of Hindutva: Histories, modalities, futures

October 2, 2025
8:30 am
H02
Muslims in India are currently facing multifaceted challenges, including political and economic marginalization, physical degradation, and attacks on their religious and cultural expressions. This panel endeavors to analyze the character and underlying causes of anti-Muslim violence within the Indian context. Specifically, it seeks to address whether this violence is a consequence of the prevailing political supremacy of Hindutva or if it is animated by the country's political structure and culture. The panel also aims to identify the social and political transformation that the Hindutva regime is producing today. It seeks to identify and evaluate both historical ruptures and continuities represented by this regime. In addressing these inquiries, the panel proposes to uncover and interrogate the epistemologies and strategies that have come to facilitate, justify, and obscure anti-minority violence in India. We invite an investigation of diverse facets such as geographical variations, institutional frameworks encompassing courts and bureaucracies, and social domains including family, community, and religious establishments. We seek to illuminate the discernments of Muslim life experiences and ethical dimensions, with the overarching goal of refining the understanding of Muslim subjectivities to develop theoretical frameworks for comprehending the Indian state, its legal system, and political landscape. Additionally, the panel invites papers that deliberate on narratives of resistance, reparative measures, and reconstruction strategies, and critically evaluate the potential and limitations of existing political discourses—such as those related to citizenship, Islam, and syncretism—on the trajectory of Muslim and minority futures in India. This panel is sponsored by South Asian Muslim Studies Association and presentations will be considered for a publication output.

Convenor

Mohsin Alam Bhat

Presentations

Hindu Religious Populism Against Religious Minorities: Cases of Christians and Muslims Minorities in India
Singh Amit - Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Violence And Its Discontents: Counter-mobilizing Muslims in Contemporary India
Sharma Yash - University of Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States
Hindu Recolonization and Muslim Marginalization: Unraveling Xanmiholi and the Contested Geographies of Assamese Identity
Saikia Yasmin - Arizona State University, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
Liminality and Erasure: Hindutva Violence Towards Imam Shah Bawa Dargah and the Shifting Boundaries of Religious Identity in Colonial and Postcolonial India
NG YIU TONG - Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India
Anti-Muslim Violence and Residential Segregation in India
Laliwala Sharik - Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Pathan Gufran - CEGA, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Against Muslimness: Islamophobia in Indian-occupied Kashmir
Kanjwal Hafsa - Lafayette College, N/A, Easton, United States
India’s Religious Ethnocracy: Hindutva Vigilantism and Police Violence in Uttar Pradesh
Kaiser Nidah - SOAS, SOAS, University of London, London, United Kingdom
The Ethno-Religious Contract: Sub-Personhood and Displacement of Assam’s Muslims
Haines Chad - Center of Muslim Experience, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States